A healthy development

Health advocates have pushed for years to establish more health clinics around New Orleans to allow low-income residents to get regular doctor care.That effort and the dramatic changes forced by Hurricane Katrina seem to be paying off.

More than three dozen community health clinics in greater New Orleans have been certified by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, a not-for-profit agency that sets standards for health care providers.

The certification process looked at how the clinics provide services, including whether patients have an ongoing relationship with a personal physician. It did not evaluate the level of care given at the clinics.

Even so, the existence of a doctor-patient relationship is a very important measure. "Virtually every national study has affirmed that patient-centered medical homes are the bedrock for any sustainable improvement in our health care delivery system, " Louisiana Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine said.

Louisiana's health care for the poor traditionally has centered on a hospital network. That is only one component of well balanced health care, though. Preventive care, treatment for minor conditions and maintenance of chronic conditions are vitally important as well. If you can get more people in for routine care, they are likely to be healthier -- and the cost will be less.

By many measures, Louisianians are not nearly as healthy as they should be -- or could be.

Louisiana came in last, behind Mississippi, in the United Health Foundation's 2008 ranking of state-by-state health conditions. More than 20 percent of the state's population is uninsured, and the state has a high level of poverty.

The state still needs to deal with major questions of how to better provide medical care to poor Louisianians, but these clinic certifications are a healthy sign.